Conquering the Solar Thermal Air Conditioning and Heating Market in China

Today Swedish innovation company Suncool AB and Zhong Fa Zhan Holdings Ltd. — a company listed on the main board of Hong Kong stock exchange — signed definitive agreements, subject to shareholders’ approval in the respective companies, to invest in and establish a Chinese business for the manufacturing, marketing and sales of innovative Solar Air Conditioning and heating products.

The solar thermal market in China is by far the world’s largest with more than 80% share of the global market and some 50 million m2solar collectors sold every year. The technology exclusively acquired by ZFZ enables the manufacturing of solar collectors that cannot only produce heating and hot tap water, but also directly supply air conditioning. Target customers include hotels, hospitals and other commercial buildings as well as the residential sector and distributors of solar powered solutions.

The new operating company will be established in Yuyao (Zhejiang province) with active support from the local government. Furthermore, the new venture will receive strategic and operational advisory support from the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP), through its multi-national vehicle China-UK Low Carbon Enterprise (CULCE).

The business plan for the new company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ZFZ, is to exclusively commercialize the unique solar heating and cooling technology in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

In October 2014, the Suncool technology, which enables the world’s first solar thermal collector with integrated cooling, was launched and successfully demonstrated in a first large-scale installation in Europe.

The Suncool technology was originally developed by ClimateWell AB, the award-winning and leading provider of sorption components. The patented technology is based on salt crystals, which can store chemical energy and convert it to heating and cooling without using any electricity or moving parts.

ClimateWell’s technology is currently applied in the fields of solar-powered heating and cooling in buildings, heat-driven air conditioning in heavy-duty vehicles and gas-fired water heaters for residential. ClimateWell’s components are integrated in those applications by major OEM customers like GE, Rheem and Caterpillar.